For his role in Ryan Murphy's production of Larry Kramer's landmark AIDS play, The Normal Heart, Matt Bomer lost 40 lbs to play a reporter ravaged by the virus. Murphy got the A-OK from HBO to shut down production from July to November so that Bomer could lose the weight, but when Murphy saw his star, he almost couldn't believe his radical transformation.

Entertainment Weekly reports:

“I literally think I burst into tears when I saw him, I was so worried for his health,” Murphy told Entertainment Weekly Radio. “I was so worried for his health, because he had taken it taken it to such a level. He was in a chair getting a haircut, and he could barely turn to greet me, he was so weak. But he carried the weight of all the ghosts of those people who had died. I remember he had a very big nude scene in the shower scene, where he had to basically collapse. And that was always the height of his thinness. And we’re like, ‘Okay, after this scene, you’re gonna be in clothes, so you can start to bulk up again hopefully….’ So to celebrate, he had a cracker. He threw up the cracker. His body had been so deprived for so long that he couldn’t hold any food.”

Get the industrial pack of Kleenex ready when The Normal Heart premieres on HBO May 25.